This invention relates to a method and apparatus for roll packing photographic film, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for automatically roll loading a strip of 35 mm film into a cylindrical film case or "patrone."
Rolls of 35 mm camera film are typically packed by winding a strip of precut film on the spool of a patrone P, as shown in FIG. 6, and a technique for automatically winding a film on a patrone in this manner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,232.
In this conventional technique the following steps are performed at a plurality of work stations arranged in the form of a turret: a spool or winding core is supplied to a spool holding means, the end portion of a precut film is adhered to the core of the spool with a tape, a patrone or cylindrical shell is supplied and the wound spool is held in such a manner that it can be readily inserted into the patrone, the spool is then inserted into the patrone, and patrone caps are supplied and fitted over the ends of the patrone.
In this machine, before the film is wound in the patrone the component parts such as the spool, the film, the patrone, and the end caps are supplied at the different stations, and these elements are then assembled one at each station to complete the patrone. Therefore, it takes a considerably long period of time to complete the necessary assembling and packing operations. Furthermore, in the conventional machine a variety of component parts are independently supplied, and therefore the overall size and space requirements of the machine are relatively large. In addition, all of the assembling and packing operations must be carried out in a darkroom to avoid exposing the photosensitive film materials, and in assembling the component parts very accurate position detection and alignment sensors must be employed which increases the cost and complexity of the machine. Further if malfunctions occur in the machine all of the steps or processes must be suspended, whereby the overall efficiency of the machine is greatly reduced.